Setback to Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation's effort to undermine Gyan Shala experiment among slum children

A gyan shala school in Ahmedabad

By Our Representative
The Gujarat High Court, taking a serious view of the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) School Board for failing to implement the right to education (RTE) Act provisions for 8,449 slum-dwelling children, has said that the board is “not following” the order and advice of the State Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) authorities to implement RTE norms. It ordered “immediate implementation” of RTE norms for these Gyan Shala children, who faced the predicament of becoming school dropouts only because the local body authorities refused to provide them a general register (GR) number, which would enable them to get admission in any school of their liking, government or private.
A petition was filed by Prof Pankaj Jain, CEO of the Education Support Organisation, with the help of the Centre for Social Justice, Ahmedabad, though senior advocate Shilpa Shah, against state officials in charge of education in Gandhinagar as also the AMC School Board. The Gyan Shala project, under which these children have been studying, is meant for underprivileged children of Ahmedabad. Begun in 2000, it was was recently extended to seven cities in four states, covering 30,000 children.
Under the project, education is provided to children through special training programme (STP) to “those children who are drop outs/ never enrolled from/to various schools i.e. government, semi-government or private schools in the age group of 6 to 14 years”, to quote from project sources. On completion of three years of STP, these children are “enrolled/ mainstreamed into other schools as per the choice of the children.”
Importance of the project, these sources said, can be gauged from the fact that it operates through the campus of the Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Ahmedabad, and has been acclaimed by reputed national and international agencies like Poverty Action Lab MIT, USA, Educational Initiative, India and CFBT, UK. These bodies have found the learning imparted to these children quite better compared to the children educated in various government schools. Currently, STP is being imparted to 8,499 children in the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation area. Its trustees, apart from Prof Jain, include Prof Pankaj Chandra, director, IIM, Bangalore; Prof Subhash Bhatnagar of the IIM-Ahmedabad; Prof Ajay Panday, dean, IIM, Ahmedabad; and Prof Ashok Korvar.
By refusing to provide the GR number, the petitioner argued, the AMC School Board would have meant an immediate end of schooling to 2,200 children, who have finished three years of STP. They should have been listed with the AMC School Board, allowing them to be registered with various municipal schools/ government schools in and around the area such children reside. But in order to get admission in a private school, they should be provided with a GR number. With this number in hand, they would become free to take admission in any school. But without it, they would be deprived of admission in any other school other than government.
”In the academic year 2012-2013, in all 2,200 children completed their three-year STP under the project, and their bio data was forwarded to the authorities, who in turn were required to register these children in municipal schools after verification and thereafter issue them their GR number”, the sources said. Prof Jain wrote two letters – on January 19, 2013 and March 16, 2013 – requesting to prepare a list of these 2,200 children who had completed their first three years. Yet, the authorities remained indifferent..
The sources believe, the AMC School Board a “a malafide intention in not preparing the list”, hence they refused to give GR. “The parents find the education imparted in the municipal schools not up to the mark and prefer to enroll their children in other semi-government or private schools. Board authorities feared that this would lead to a further decline in the ratio of children taking admission in municipality schools”, the petition said, adding, “The government spends Rs. 20,000 each child who is imparted education in the municipality run schools. This ratio has been continuously coming down since last few years, hence the need to to increase the strength of children in municipality run schools.”

Comments

'Enough evidence' in Indian tradition to support legal basis for same-sex marriage

By Iyce Malhotra, Joseph Mathai, Sandeep Chachra* The ongoing hearing in the Supreme Court on same-sex marriage provides space for much-needed conversations on issues that have hitherto remained “invisible” or engaged with patriarchal locker room humour. We must recognize that people with diverse sexualities and complex gender identities have faced discrimination, stigma and decades of oppression. Their issues have mainly remained buried in dominant social discourse, and many view them with deep insecurities.

Savarkar 'criminally betrayed' Netaji and his INA by siding with the British rulers

By Shamsul Islam* RSS-BJP rulers of India have been trying to show off as great fans of Netaji. But Indians must know what role ideological parents of today's RSS/BJP played against Netaji and Indian National Army (INA). The Hindu Mahasabha and RSS which always had prominent lawyers on their rolls made no attempt to defend the INA accused at Red Fort trials.

Buddhist shrines were 'massively destroyed' by Brahmanical rulers: Historian DN Jha

Nalanda mahavihara By Our Representative Prominent historian DN Jha, an expert in India's ancient and medieval past, in his new book , "Against the Grain: Notes on Identity, Intolerance and History", in a sharp critique of "Hindutva ideologues", who look at the ancient period of Indian history as "a golden age marked by social harmony, devoid of any religious violence", has said, "Demolition and desecration of rival religious establishments, and the appropriation of their idols, was not uncommon in India before the advent of Islam".

Victim of communal violence, Christians in Manipur want Church leadership to speak up

By Fr Cedric Prakash SJ* The first eleven days of May 2023 have, in many ways, been a defining period of Indian history! Plenty has happened in a rapid-fire stream of events. Ironically, each one of them are indicators of how crimes and the criminalisation of society has become the ‘new norm’; these include, the May Day rallies with a focus on the four labour codes which are patently against the rights of workers; the U S Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) released its Annual Report on 1 May stating that conditions for religious freedom in India “continued to worsen in 2022”; the continued protest by the Indian women wrestlers at Jantar Mantar for the expulsion of the chief of the Indian Wrestlers Federation on very serious allegations; the Elections in Karnataka on 10 May (with communalism and corruption as the mainstay); the release of the fake, derogative and insensitive film ‘The Kerala Story’; the release of World Free Press Index on 3 May which places India

Delhi HC rules in favour of retired Air Force officer 'overcharged' for Covid treatment

By Rosamma Thomas* In a decision of May 22, 2023, the Delhi High Court ruled in favour of petitioner Group Captain Suresh Khanna who was under treatment at CK Birla Hospital, Gurugram, between April 28 and May 5, 2021, for a period of eight days, for Covid-19 pneumonia. The petitioner had to pay Rs 3,55,286 as treatment costs, but the Ex-Servicemen Contributory Health Scheme (ECHS) only reimbursed him for Rs 1,83,748, on the basis of government-approved rates.

Swami Vivekananda's views on caste and sexuality were 'painfully' regressive

By Bhaskar Sur* Swami Vivekananda now belongs more to the modern Hindu mythology than reality. It makes a daunting job to discover the real human being who knew unemployment, humiliation of losing a teaching job for 'incompetence', longed in vain for the bliss of a happy conjugal life only to suffer the consequent frustration.

Unlike other revolutionaries, Hindutva icon wrote 5 mercy petitions to British masters

By Shamsul Islam* The Hindutva icon VD Savarkar of the RSS-BJP rulers of India submitted not one, two,or three but five mercy petitions to the British masters! Savarkarites argue: “There are no evidences to prove that Savarkar collaborated with the British for his release from jail. In fact, his appeal for release was a ruse. He was well aware of the political developments outside and wanted to be part of it. So he kept requesting for his release. But the British authorities did not trust him a bit” (YD Phadke, ‘A complex Hero’, "The Indian Expres"s, August 31, 2004)

Polygamy in India "down" in 45 yrs: Muslims' from 5.7 to 2.55%, Hindus' 5.8 to 1.77%, "common" in SCs, STs

By Rajiv Shah Amidst All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) justifying polygamy, saying it “meets social and moral needs and the provision for it stems from concern and sympathy for women”, facts suggest the the practice is down from 5.7 per cent of Muslim families in 1961 to 2.55 per cent in 2006.

India joining US sponsored trade pillar to hurt Indian farmers, 'promote' GM seeds, food

Counterview Desk As many as 32 civil society organisations (CSOs), in a letter to Union Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal on the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF) and India joining the trade pillar, have said that its provisions will allow the US to ensure a more favourable regulatory regime “for enhancing its exports of genetically modified (GM) seeds and GM food”, underlining, it will “significantly hurt the livelihoods of Indian farmers.”

Modi govt 'wholly untrustworthy' on Covid data, censored criticism on pandemic: Lancet

By Rajiv Shah* One of the world’s most prestigious health journals, brought out from England, has sharply criticised the Narendra Modi government for being “wholly untrustworthy on Covid-19 health data”, stating, the “official government figures place deaths at more than 530 000, while WHO excess death estimates for 2020 and 2021 are near 4·7 million.”

Search This Blog